Sunday, September 28, 2003

On addicted to the internet

We live in a world of addiction. What is the purpose of addiction? Too much connection with a projected object. It is a problem of connection. Since connectivity is a major issue in this new electric world, maybe its connection to addiction should be seriously looked at? Because addiction is a serious, destructive problem when the object of addiction has such a consuming power, like drugs, booze, sex, work (workaholics), and who knows, maybe eventually the internet. Our censorship, or social acceptance of which object of addiction we allow seems to be connected to what the society values as being supportive or destructive to the society. Alchohol, for example, at one time, in some societies was used as a way to be connected to the holy and communing. It served a function of a bringing together of the community. Now it is not. The addict feels his disconnectivity with the world, his self, the 'single consciousness' at such a deep and compelling level that he becomes destructively addicted to his chosen substance. The degree of one's forgetting of oneself and other selves, is also relative to the degree of one's destructiveness. Sometimes the addiction brings about a reversal and starts a healing process, sometimes the substance consumes him instead. Could a computer addict get into the same destructive cycles as in other forms of addiction?

It was painful for me to see the word "addiction" being battered around so carelessly. So I had to respond with this message. As for my own danger of being destructively addicted to our class blogs? My cat just gave me the answer by trying to sit on my ibook. Lately he's been very jealous of it. I wonder if he thinks it's another pet or knows that he needs to keep reminding me of disconnecting? Anyway, all I need to do is, give him his appropriate attention, and I'm saved from being hooked.

Ps. about "reversal", there's a simple and clear description of its process in "Making the Media the Business Message" from Investment Executive found in Mark's homepage.

Discuss

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